Secret UFO Files Document Hundreds of Sightings

Thousands of files with details of UFO sightings and an "alien abduction" in London have been released for the first time by the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The previously classified files contain more than 8,500 pages that reveal the UFO phenomenon has been discussed at the highest levels of governments worldwide -- and in 1979 the UK House of Lords held Parliament's only ever full debate among lawmakers on the subject, Sky News reported.

The files, which also contain pictures, described how for a few hours in 1967 a "War Of The Worlds"-style incident was treated as a potentially real alien invasion of the UK.

Another startling revelation: In the months before the September 11 attacks in 2001, 15 unidentified aircraft were detected on radar approaching the UK, one detected on the actual day. In another case a man told the MoD he believed he had been beamed up by an alien craft from his home in southwest London.

The files contain pages of UFO sightings and reports, color photographs and drawings, UK Royal Air Force investigations, unusual radar detections, briefings to lawmakers and -- for the first time -- documents on the government's policy on UFOs.